Hi gang! Sorry, I’ve just woken up. I was reading a magazine and then all of a sudden, I fell asleep. What? My hat? Nah, I was scratching my head, I don’t know what you’re talking about.

This week it’s with great pleasure that we’re welcoming a lovely young lady who is 21 and a half (this amount of precision is apparently very important) who is called Nini and whose blog is called Nini Wanted. She’s very lucky because at the moment she’s on holiday for six months in Japan! “I draw for myself, for my blog, which is something I didn’t have time to do when I was a student.”

Even if Nini likes to find simple and effective ideas that she can work on all the way to the end in a frantic and accomplished manner, she’s definitely missing something: a working computer. It appears that the Windows blue screen of death is her good friend. In fact, on Facebook, “it’s complicated.”

So, what’s your story dear Nini? “In high school I did arts history and applied arts (but I hated literary subjects) then I went to university and got to third year applied arts, because I was too stressed out to pass any exams or interviews. After that, I wanted to take a break, so I worked for 9 months flipping burgers (very creative) to be able to live in Japan for a few months!”

Your projects? “In a few months, I’ll be back in France in Toulouse. I’ll send my work to art school to see if I can get in, or I’ll try to start a Masters 1 at university.” OK then!

Right, that’s the end of that bit. Here’s the next bit.

Cats or dogs?You have to take a dog outside, pick its poo up, it barks, doesn’t smell so good, so I’ll say a cat, it’s cute, it makes nice cuddles, it rubs up against you, it covers your house in hair, it’s cool too! But I’m allergic to animals.

What are the last things you enjoyed in cinema, music, books and comics?At the moment, I really like the Japanese instrumental rock band TOE and the post-hardcore (and lots of other genres) Underoath, from Florida. In books, the latest is from the “The southern community” collection from which the TV series “True Blood” is adapted, a vampire thing, naked people and all that! And as for comics, I think it’s “L’effet kiss pas cool” by Leslie Plée, which made me, laugh due to its angst!

Tell us what you like to do, your passions, pastimes, vices and little everyday pleasures.I like putting sauce everywhere. Watching a whole season of a TV show in a day. Riding bicycles around Japanese streets with someone.

Tell us a crap joke. Or tell us an FML of your own.Today, I called my mother to give her some good news and she replied: “Are you pregnant? Because I was going to buy a duck, but if you have a baby, that’s better!” FML

Do you have a phobia?The monster hiding under the bed, I’m not joking.

To finish up, ask yourself a question you’d have liked to have been asked, then answer it if you want.What do you do the most in Japan? I stand in front of the drink machines wondering what to buy.

If you want to be the next published artist, send an email to alice [at] fmylife.com including a link to your website/blog/DA. But DON'T send your illustration right away! You need first to get in touch with me, and I'll tell you what you have to do!

Good morning everyone! No, today we're not welcoming talking chairs or pregnant women but don't worry, the illustration we're providing you with is as good as last week's. Plus, there's cars and misogyny, and what's not to like about that? Buckle up and be brave, because today's artist is from that big old weird country where spiders are bigger than your head. Australia, here we come!

-What's your journey?-I was working as a graphic designer in a big corporate company but quit because it was unfulfilling. I left 6 months ago and decided to try and pursue my real love, which is cartooning and illustration. I've had some comics published in newspapers previously but I knew if I really wanted to succeed I had to devote ALL of my time to it. I've also created a couple of webcomics in the past but they were only updating once a week so they didn't do very well. So since I left my job I'm totally focused on cartooning and have used all of my past experience to develop and launch a new comic blog called Zen Pencils.

-What are your inspirations?-My favourite comic strip ever is Calvin and Hobbes, which is a huge influence along with Tintin and all of Studio Ghibli's animated films. Comic books are a big influence too - some of my favourite artists are Eduardo Risso, Mike Mignola, Erik Larsen, Guy Davis, Bruce Timm, Jeff Smith and Frank Cho.

-Do you read webcomics? If so, which ones?-I'm embarrassed to say I don't really keep up with many webcomics these days. The Perry Bible Fellowship was always my favourite but that's stopped unfortunately. The Oatmeal is leading the way these days and I always get a laugh out of Matthew Inman's stuff.

-Tell us more about your website!My website is a cartoon blog that adapts famous and inspirational quotes into comic strips. I love learning about interesting and inspiring historic figures so I decided to turn their powerful words into comic stories. The website is perfect for me because it combines my love of cartooning, design and history into something that not many people have seen before. The cool part is not only do I get to share my heroes with others but readers can share their favourite quotes and people with me and I get to learn new things. It's win-win!

-Why did you choose this FML story?-I thought it was a good one to use comedy timing on and because a lot of people (especially guys) can relate to it. Most dudes are probably only thinking about one thing when they take their girlfriend for a weekend getaway!

If you want to be the next published artist, send an email to alice [at] fmylife.com including a link to your website/blog/DA. But DON'T send your illustration right away! You need first to get in touch with me, and I'll tell you what you have to do!

Hello you wonderful lot! This week we’re going to jump straight in and let this week’s artist introduce himself, because he has a lot to say. “I have many names. Populations know me under several identities, but for now call me exaheva. My blog is called Je suis Cerné, on which I put different styles of comic strips every week. I have lived many lives, but at the moment I am 21 years old, I think. I’ve lived most of my life at MEGACITY, but I’m currently living in GIGAVILLE (it’s a giga place to be). Great, isn’t it? I pretend to study the noble (and clearly the greatest) art that is comics, but the truth is that the school is a cover for a mafia-organized traffic of Pokémon cards (if someone has a shining Mewtwo, I’m interested). I also make music (an electro duo called ‘Je Brûle’) and I create video games at an amateur level (that can be found on my blog). So I also like to experiment stuff in comics, like interactive comics (yes, it’s possible) or animated, or musical… or other stuff.”

As you may have gathered, there are about 18 people inside our guest’s head. But they seem to all get along. What do enjoy in what you do, exaheva? What is missing? “Being able to manipulate people’s emotions for a short period of time via images I’ve created is an interesting power. I’m missing a shining Mewtwo card, as I’ve already said.”

In other news, exaheva tells us that he is on holiday, he’s had an FML published and that yesterday he took the bus. And he was alone in it. Wow.

Even crazier is how he got to where he is now. “Well, first I went to school, then, well, I went to high school, and now I’m in an art school.” I warned you it was crazy.

Before going any further, it gets even worse. “In the beginning, I wanted to pilot giant robots to fight monsters from outer-space, but then I learned that there wasn’t many careers in that sort of thing, so I’m trying to make it in comics, music, video games, or interactive-musical-comics.”

OK then, let’s go onto the next bit.

What are the latest things that you enjoyed at the movies, or in music and books and comics?Koyaanisqatsi, a musical-minimalist-documentary-movie with music by Philip Glass which is really great. And the best animation movie in the world is Mind Game, it won the best-movie-of-all-time-which-cannot-be-beaten. In music, the last thing I really liked is a German electro-rock band called Warren Suicide, which is really good. And by “books” you mean “video games” obviously so I’d say that the video game you have to play is Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP, an independent pixelart game which is SUPER CLASSY with an incredible feel and music, please play it. And as for comic books, erm, “Lupus” by Peeters is absolutely splendid, well told and very catchy (the complete works has been released) as well as “Sunday” by Jon McNaught, a small two color comic with small panels, very pretty and minimalistic.

Who are the main artists that you appreciate and whose blogs you visit regularly? I’d say Chris Ware, Taiyou Matsumoto, Ruppert and Mulot, so we have an American, a guy from Japan and a French duo. As for blogs, there’s the classics that everyone already knows, but there’s also Fluoxyne, Invisible Hair Suit, and the pixel nut Paul Robertson. There’s also my two friends Mortis Ghost and Saturnome who do great work!

Tell us what you like in life, your passions, hobbies, vices, and everyday pleasures.Hmmm, I can see you coming. You want some sort of scoop, don’t you? No, well, as I said before, I make a lot of music, I love it. And video games as well, I must admit I like them a lot even though I don’t have enough time to play all the ones I’d like to. Besides that, I have an incomplete list of things I like: giant robots, explosions, furniture, intense combats, the sound of footsteps in the snow, coffee and pasta.

Do you have a phobia? If so, which one?No, but I have the phobia of having a phobia. For the moment everything’s fine.

To finish up, ask yourself a question you would like to have been asked, and chose whether to answer it or not.Which Pokémon card are you missing? Shining Mewtwo.

So that’s it for this week. All that’s left is for me to leave you with a video until next week’s illustration. Here’s a video of Siri, the iPhone vocal recognition system. Apparently, Siri has trouble with the Japanese accent and can’t understand the word “work”! That’s all folks, hope you enjoyed yourselves, have a great week, be excellent to each other and enjoy your summer holidays if you’re lucky enough to have any!

If you want to be the next published artist, send an email to alice [at] fmylife.com including a link to your website/blog/DA. But DON'T send your illustration right away! You need first to get in touch with me, and I'll tell you what you have to do!

Love is in the air thanks to today's artist from Indonesia. No matter how your lover looks, if you love him/her, he/she's the most beautiful person in the world. Noooooo I'm kidding, what's really important is that he/she's tanned, good looking, tall and has blue eyes. Everything else is just accessorizing. Now that I've spread the good word, let's get to the interview!

-What are your name, surname and nickame? -My name is quite long actually, Raditha Laras H. Paramesta. I'm Indonesian & we don't really have a definite surname (I use Djamil in public cuz it's my dad's "last name"). I'm not sure why, but that's just how it goes.

-Why did you choose this nickname?-I prefer to be called Rara or R2, but online I usually go by Chocoreaper, Loserificus or Chocarus91 (and those are lame usernames if you ask me, I want a better online identity IMHO).

-How old are you?-I'm 21, my birthday was just last May.

-Where do you live?-Currently in Tangerang, Indonesia, though my hometown is Jakarta.

-What's your job?-Actually I'm still looking for a job. I just graduated last year and have thankfully found a job opening in Brunei, but it's not confirmed if I'm accepted there yet. I'd like to work freelance but my friends & family said I'm better off working in a real office first, just for experience.

-What's your journey?-If you mean traveling, I've only been to three countries so far and I had to stay in the location I'm currently in for personal reasons. If you mean career path, I'm still stuck and deciding what I'm gonna work as (I took BA(Hons) in Creative Multimedia, made a 2D animation final project but I don't know why I wanted to work as a voice actor or a backup vocalist in a band). If it's spiritual journey... I dunno, I'm pretty religious myself, but not that much.

-What are your inspirations?-My inspirations are my favorite music bands, which vary a lot. I'm a listener of alternative rock and some indie bands, but I'm open to any genre. I like parody songs too like Weird Al Yankovic, The Key Of Awesome, etc. Other than that, some random short animations on the internet and some movies & TV series. I dunno. Inspiration can come randomly from anywhere. Especially when you're hyper or high on soda, candy, other sugary stuff or jokes with friends.

-Do you read webcomics?-Yeah, I do read webcomics, like Evil Diva, The Meek, Cheer Up Emo Kid, Pajama Forest, Strays, Hipster Hitler, My Cardboard Life, Hanna Is Not A Boy's Name and Miss Morbids.

-Tell us more about your website?-I don't have a personal website yet. I'm quite known on deviantART cuz that's where I post most of my artworks. (but I recently got bored, maybe I'll come back once in a while). I do post some of my artworks in Soup.io though, only for art dumps & doodles. As for the webcomic I'm currently working on, Jealous Cats Copy Cats it's just there because I'm remaking my old comics back when I was a kid (there's a lot, but they're not posted online due to crappy quality). It's about cats that get jealous and copy other cats just to cure their envy, that's about it. Have to -shamelessly- admit, I am sort of a copycat actually, since I was a kid, and I like making stories with this pattern: friends showing off, envy, copying, success, in-yer-face-haha. It's repetitive, but somehow addictive.

-Why did you choose this FML story?-I chose the FML story because... well... after reading the rest of the stories in the list, my mind has already projected a scene, a color scheme and a few characters which suit the story. And badabing badaboom, the comic is done.

If you want to be the next published artist, send an email to alice [at] fmylife.com including a link to your website/blog/DA. But DON'T send your illustration right away! You need first to get in touch with me, and I'll tell you what you have to do!

Hi gang! Many of us on here are finally realizing that summertime has arrived, and we’re hoping that this time it’s for good. To fight the heat, you have two solutions. Either by keeping out of the heat, especially your head, it’s very important. Or make the most of the heat by trying out a new style of cooking. I’ve already made my choice. I’ll be right back; I’ve got things in the oven.

I’m glad to see you again anyway. Let’s get straight to it with our guest, who has a very strange pseudonym. Ladies, Gentlemen, straight from the blog The sky is fallin’, here’s Djaúsðr. “To make it easier and for various accounts and addresses on the Internet, it can be written djausdr but never djausor. It can be pronounced but shouldn’t be attempted. It hurts your tongue.”

Djausdr is 28 and claims to live in a small village of 200 inhabitants where he runs a semi-combat club. This subject may be covered in a future article, it certainly seems like it deserves to be.

“I think I love everything that I do. Except when it doesn’t work out. What I need at the moment is times when things actually go to plan.” He’s quite the philosopher.

At the moment, Djausdr is trying to find a way to move to Paris (this is probably the only serious information in this not so serious article) and he’s learning underwater telepathy (it didn’t remain serious for very long).

As for the last two answers, here they are in full, sorry. Where did today’s artist go to school, and then do for work? “I took part in the Vietnam war. Which meant that I was crap in high school so I switched to a more manual education where I discovered body hair and philosophy. I wanted to study psychology at college but I tripped and ended up in a graphic design school in Paris. They raised dragons by feeding them mushrooms to see if they’d spit out grass, which appalled me. So I moved to Toulouse where I finished my studies all the while trying to avoid becoming an alcoholic. Since getting my diploma, I’ve been looking for a stable job.”

Hmmm, could’ve been worse. What about his projects. “I’d like to set up a graphic design studio with a mandatory naptime, in a near future where there would be flying cars. I’d like to finish writing a book and write two others, write a storyline for a comic book and get an artist to draw it and destroy the black holes with his talent (I can’t name names because I don’t know who the artist is yet), start a band, make a really polished short movie with good equipment and (semi) professional actors, have children to transform them into robots which would probably cause a split with the mother except that she wouldn’t know that I’d already also turned her into a robot during her sleep, and finally, I’d like to enter the national table curling team."

Right then. On to the next bit.

Cats or dogs?I’m afraid of dogs and cats are too mainstream so let’s say: A TAPIR.

What are the latest things you liked at the movies, musically and in comic books?I went to see Moonrise Kingdom that I really liked, as with most of Wes Anderson’s stuff (by the way, last night I dreamt that I crept into his studio to discover that he’d fused with Wim Wenders and had turned black).At the moment I’m constantly listening to the latest Gravenhurst and Liars albums. I have to listen to the latest Sigur Ros album but I keep forgetting.I’m not really up to date with what’s occurring in the literary world, I take books off shelves a bit randomly. I couldn’t tell you what really got me worked up the last time. The one I do remember is Spinoza fucks Hegel by Jean-Bernard Pouy. I read it in a night.As for comic books, my dad bought me Blast for Xmas; it knocked me on my ass. I’ve noticed that a second book has come out, I must get it.

What do you enjoy in life, your passions, and your vices, your everyday pleasures?I like waking up with nice dreams to write down on paper, not to analyze but just to keep a trace of. I discovered quite late in life that I like hiking. There’s nothing better than arriving in a deserted area and sitting on a warm rock in the sun to play a bit of game boy.I also stuff small animals and put electroluminescent diodes on their nipples to scare old ladies who are feeding pigeons.

Can you tell us a bad joke? You have a joker: if you can’t tell us a joke, you can tell us your biggest FML.OK, here’s a riddle I made myself then.Do you know what’s the difference between 7 and 4? (Here you can answer whatever you want) No, they’re numbers.

To finish off, ask yourself a question you’d have liked to have been asked, and answer it (or not).Do you know who invented looking? To tell you the truth, I know nothing about it.

There you go. Happy? Wait, have a few videos before you go. When Joey quits his job at the hotel where he was badly treated, he does it like this. And when a kitten pretends to be dead, he does it like that. So, happy now? See you next week!

If you want to be the next published artist, send an email to alice [at] fmylife.com including a link to your website/blog/DA. But DON'T send your illustration right away! You need first to get in touch with her, and she will tell you what you have to do!

Chiara's illustrated FML

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Hello all you crybabies, from Land's End to John o' Groats. Yes, I'm finally here my lovelies. Since last week, my inbox hasn't stopped humming with the noise of new mail dropping into it, letters full…